Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 20:19:50 -0800 Subject: SUB: Valentine's Day Contest: "Tranquility Tower": Short Story You've still got a few hours! Check out=20 http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/val97/val.html for details. Please reserve all critiques on contest entries until after Valentine's Day! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tranquility Tower Saunders sat on the viewport ledge and scanned the lunar horizon. He scooped syrup-drenched bits of pineapple and peaches into his mouth with a plastic spoon and tried to ignore their tinny taste as he waited. His breath fogged the plexiglass, then faded just in time for his next exhalation. In between, he made out a glistening speck on the terminator steadily moving towards the station. _In another ten minutes, she'll be standing in front of me again,_ he thought. He remembered the last time he saw Susan Kwan. She had barged into the bathroom while he was showering and ripped the curtain open. While he stood there, dripping and naked, she asked for a divorce. Saunders could do nothing as she stormed out of their home and turned his life upside down. "That was four years ago," he told himself in a whisper. His voice echoed down the dark, deserted corridor. He dropped the tin of fruit cocktail into the waste disposal and wiped his gloved hands on the legs of his e-suit. His nose stung from the cold and he fantasized about feeling truly warm again. Even at night, burried under covers, he felt the chill in his bones. "This is EVA 1003 from Enias Station." Saunders frowned. Even distorted by the carrier waves, Susan's voice struck at him from the past. He opened a channel on one of the wall communications panels. "This is Tranquility Tower. You are cleared for docking in bay 12. Continue on your present course and look for the lights." "Roger," she said. He closed the channel and returned to the window. She was much closer. He could make out her figure behind the controls of the lunar rover. His reflection was ghostly pale in the window, and he wondered how bad he really looked. It was hard to believe this was happening. Only thirteen hours ago, he certified the resort as "fit for habitation". As foreman, Saunders had personally inspected every square inch of the station. It was Bestline Space Technologies crowning achievement. As such, it was a make-it-or-break-it career opportunity. With the resort finished on time and on budget, Saunders was a hero. He would make VP for his efforts, and supervise all of Bestline's projects. Then, the problems started. First it was just a slight pressure loss on the third level. In a new construction of this size, some containment leaks were normal. He sent a team up to look for the leak and seal it. The loss was minor and seemed unimportant. A second leak started on the fifth level. Before the maintenance crew reached that level, there were two more leaks on two more levels. By the time the third shuttle of guests had arrived, the decision had been made to evacuate the station. Saunders stayed behind to find and repair the problem. Meanwhile, Taggert Resorts was losing $150,000 every hour they had to be closed. They filed a claim with Lloyds of London, who immediately insisted on having a neutral, third party inspect the station. They evidently hoped to prove Bestline or Taggert had been negligent and, thus, evade having to pay out. This sent Taggert through the roof.=20 They demanded Saunders be allowed to carry out the inspection to save time and minimize losses. The compromise, quickly negotiated by the Feds, was a government-certified inspector to verify Saunders' findings. They picked the closest inspector to save time. It just happened she was also his ex-wife. The station walls vibrated as she entered the bay. He cursed. Soon, she would be at the airlock and face-to-face with him. He wondered what to say. A moment later, Susan Kwan stepped through the airlock. She still wore her helmet, though the sun-shield was retracted. He could barely make out her face through the fogged visor of her helmet. Then, she reached up and released the seals. There was a gentle hiss as air-pressure equalized and she lifted the helmet from her head. Her face was devoid of makeup and her long, black hair was pulled back into a neat, French braid. She wore a frost-green, unisex e-suit. Even so, Saunders noted grudgingly, she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. That was why he had married her. _Too bad she had the personality of sand paper,_ he thought. "Susie," he said, "You look well." She took a deep breath and blew it out, hard. "Ben. Let's not waste time. I'm sure you're as anxious as I am to get this over with. What do you have." Saunders tried not to look annoyed. He stepped back and motioned down the hall. "This way." They walked down the corridor in silence. Saunders listened to their footfalls echo in the long, narrow passages. Part of him found it impossible to think of her being so close. He wanted to reach out to take her into his arms and bounce her off the walls at the same time. "What's the extent of the bleed-off?" She said. "Excuse me?" He looked over at her. "I asked what the bleed-off has been." "Over 53%. Temperatures at 31% of optimal. We were lucky to evacuate when we did. If the guests had been here any longer we'd be working in full gear." "Can't we get a space heater in this fancy hotel? It's cold as hell up here," she said. _A hell of a lot colder since you arrived,_ he thought. Saunders stopped at a wide, metal door. "This is my lab," he said. He keyed in a number on a keypad by the door, and it slid open. Inside was an ad-hoc laboratory filled with "improvised" equipment. "Not bad," she said as she walked past him. He found her praise faint indeed. "It did the job," he said. "Then you found the problem?" "Don't look so surprised," he said. "After all, I taught you most of what you..." "Uh huh," she said, cutting him off. "Is this it?" She motioned to a microscope. "Yeah." She walked over to the microscope and looked in, delicately adjusting its controls. Suddenly she seemed startled, then she whistled.=20 "Incredible." Saunders nodded. He had spent hours isolating what looked like a million, bean-shaped black outlines shimmering on a white background.=20 "We've been finding fossilized bacteria in meteorite fragments since the end of the last century," he said, "but to find a living organism." He paused and rubbed his forehead. "It had to have hibernated for millions of years in this crater. Then, when we used the lunar ore to electroform the station, they revived and started to breed." "They're incredibly small," she said as she checked the magnification factor. "Five thousand of them could fit on the back of your average bacterium. If they'd been a micron smaller, we would have needed a scanning electron microscope and a research staff to find them." She stopped and looked up at him, her features suddenly softened.=20 "Well, Ben, it looks like you finally got your wish. This is a new life form." Saunders could not remember telling her about his boyhood dream. "Frankly," he said, trying not to appear touched, "I'd rather have done this some other way." He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall. "Now what?" "I don't see as we have much choice," she said, her expression hardening again. "You found the cause of the degradation, but we'll need to do research to determine whether or not it can be contained.=20 These things are metabolizing some component of the sealant used in almost every part of this station. Until we discover what that component is, we can't even reseal the leaks." "You realize this will bankrupt Bestline. Not to mention Taggert Resorts and Lloyds of London." Saunders turned to face her. She looked away and folded her arms. "I know. I'm sorry, Ben." "We could import sealant from Earth." She shook her head. "Come on, Ben. Until we know what the microbes are digesting, bringing in more sealant would be pointless. For all we know, the Earth compounds would be just as susceptible to the infestation. Maybe more so, considering the Earth compounds would be purer." Susan put her hands on her hips. "Frankly, I won't allow anyone to enter this station until we have more data. If this microbe spreads to other stations before we develop countermeasures, it could devastate the moon." Saunders blew out his breath in disgust. It billowed before him, then floated up to the ceiling. When it was about a foot over his head it spun around and moved off towards a far wall, revealing the extent of the atmospheric leakage. "You're right, Susie," he said through clenched teeth. She shrugged. "There's no way you could have foreseen this, Ben.=20 Nothing like this has ever been found before." Saunders bristled. It was hard to accept sympathy from her now. "I guess." She looked away. "And Ben..." "Yeah?" "Don't call me 'Susie'." He watched her walk to the lab door. She stopped there and looked back. When she realized he was watching her, she frowned. "What?" "Nothing," he said, looking away. He wished she didn't look so damn good in that e-suit. "I was just thinking that we should be notifying the Feds." "Good idea. I'll do it, now." She walked over to a communications panel and keyed in an address. Saunders walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. There were several dozen containers with research labels on them, and a bottle of yellow liquid. Ignoring its resemblance to urine, Saunders pulled it out and popped it open. The tea tasted good, although he would have preferred a hot cup of coffee at this point. "Oh, my God." Saunders looked around, alarmed by Susan's sudden outburst. She looked at him, her face pale. "What is it?" He started to run to her, then caught himself. "A child's lost on this station." "What? You've got to be joking." "No. They weren't sure at first, but all of the guests have been accounted for except for one; a ten year-old girl named Angela Denver." Saunders rubbed his chin. "Dark hair, green eyes? About 4 foot eight?" "You know her?" She sounded surprised. I met her when the guests started to arrive. She was one of the first people on the station. She seemed fascinated by everything. She kept asking questions about how the station worked. By the time she finished grilling me, I think she could have run the station herself." "Do you know where she might be?" Saunders shook his head, playing the meeting over in his head. "I don't think so. No, damn it." He began pacing. "As near as I can figure it, the perimeter of the station is down to 4 degrees Celsius.=20 Even here, in the core, it's becoming damn cold. Not only that, we've got about three hours before the atmosphere bleeds off too much for us to breath without a personal air supply. If this girl is in the outer areas of the resort, that means she's probably already frozen to death.=20 If she isn't, then she'll asphyxiate when the air supply dwindles too far." "Well," Susan said, visibly shaken. "We'll have to assume she's not in the perimeter. It wouldn't matter anyway. We'll stick to the core... =20 And we'll have to search fast." Saunders sighed, then walked over to the communications panel near Susan. He brushed by her and, even through both of their e-suits, felt a strange connection with her. However, he forced the sexual thoughts from his mind and attended to the matter at hand. "I'll bring up a schematic of the station," he said. "I can put together a search protocol which will allow us to cover the maximum area possible in our allotted time frame." He brought up the station's blueprints and displayed them three dimensionally. Tranquility Tower rose up in wire-framed splendor. It was a twelve story construct, with rooms for five hundred guests and thirty staff. It resembled the monolith from the old movie, _2001: A Space Odyssey_. With a few, minor adjustments to a program he used to plan efficient engineering inspections, he came up with an workable search pattern. "We'll have to split up. I'll take the lift up to the twelfth floor and work my way down into the center, searching all of the central compartments. You start in the bays and work your way up. We should meet on the sixth floor. If all goes well, one of us will find the girl first. "If the current bleed-off rate holds, we have three hours, twelve and a half minutes. If we don't find her by then, we're out of time and we'll have to assume she's dead." "How long will it take to carry out this search?" Susan asked. "This pattern calls for three hours, so any deviations will be cutting it close." He printed out two hard copies of the search plan, then handed one to her. She took it without comment and started for the door. "Susie," he said, calling after her. He regretted what he was about to say. "Be careful." She did not turn around, but he thought he saw her shoulders weaken. "Don't call me 'Susie'," she said in a quavering voice. Then, she left. Three hours passed quickly. Saunders stood in the middle of the sixth level and waited for Susan to reach him. His part of the search had failed to turn up the girl, but it did serve to underscore the seriousness of the degradation in the station's seals. More than once, Saunders had been forced to rest because the atmosphere was becoming so thin. He had almost turned back for an air supply at one point, but he felt it would take too much time from the search. He was also afraid that the girl would move while he was getting the air supply and render the search pattern worthless. As it was, he was 98% sure if the girl was still alive, they would find her. Those was about the best odds he could ask for. "Ben?" He looked down the shadow-shrouded corridor and saw Susan coming towards him. She was alone...and she looked exhausted. "You look like hell," he said. He was too tired to be guarded anymore. "You should talk." She sat down. "Any sign of her?" He sat down next to her and shook his head sadly. "No." He heard a muffled sob come from her. "Damn," she said. Despite himself, he reached out and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry." To his surprise, she leaned into him and whispered, "I know." "We've got to get out of here now," he said. She took a deep breath and blew it out. The mist from her breath disappeared almost at once. "Christ. How bad is it?" "Let's just say, if we were on Earth, we'd be about three-fourths of the way up Everest." He looked at his watch. "We don't have much time. It's twelve below. Let's suit up and get off the station." "We still need to decontaminate, too," she said. He stood up, feeling light-headed, and started down the hall. She leaned on him for support. They had gone several feet when he heard the sound of a window beginning to buckle. "I think we've got a problem," he said, pulling her up short. "That sound means we overstayed our welcome." "No." He looked around quickly. The sixth floor was a duplicate of all of the other guest floors. There were eight to ten rooms on each side, with a common area in the middle. Twin lifts rose through the center of the building, with furniture and such on the floor. There were bathrooms and closets arranged strategically throughout. "We need to get into an enclosed environment," he said, pushing her towards the lifts. They had emergency medical kits, which would include oxygen, and they were air tight. At least, they were air tight if their seals hadn't degraded too much. Saunders pushed the button and waited for one of the lift doors to open. Behind him, the cracking was getting louder. He worried the lift would not arrive in time, and they would be blown out into space. "Come on," she said, seeming to share his thoughts. There was a beep and one of the lifts opened. It was the one across from them, and he grabbed her arm and tugged her towards it. When they reached the lift, he pushed her inside. Just then, the window gave way and Saunders felt himself pulled, unexpectedly, into the air. He grabbed for the keypad, but it was just out of reach. He was blown back into the common area and across the floor. "Ben!" Susan clung to the lift door and reached out after him. Saunders felt himself crash into the far wall as the airflow pressed him towards the windows. He held his breath and grasped at everything in sight. His eyes burned and froze at the same time. He saw Susan hanging on at the lift and watching him in terror. He motioned for her to go into the lift, hoping she would, at least, save herself. Meanwhile, he managed to grasp onto a partition that was bolted to the floor. Susan cried out his name, though he could not hear it over the rushing air. Then, the door slid closed and he was alone. He knew that he didn't have much time left. He wondered what it would be like to explode into space when a black and silver "Welcome to the BEST Money Can Buy!" flapped into his face. It was a wall hanging, or one end of it. Susan held the other end. Muttering an inaudible prayer that it would support him and a curse that he was being saved by her, he began pulling himself, hand-over-hand, to the lifts. It seemed like an eternity to him, and his arms throbbed from the exertion, but he made it. They struggled inside and Susan released the "Hold Lift" button. The doors hissed shut. She broke open the seal on the emergency kit and tossed him an oxygen set. His lungs were on fire as he ripped open the white box with the red cross on it. He slipped the green mask over his face and breathed the oxygen in, greedily. He looked up at Susan, who wore a similar mask. "Thank you," he said, weakly. She sat down and wrapped her arms around him. He let her, embracing her in return for the few minutes he could allow. The lift came to a rest and the door slid open to one of the bays. "We need to leave now," he said. The station was creaking and=20 groaning. She nodded to him, but the tears in her eyes threw him. "Susan..." he began. Shaking her head, she only replied, "Later." They headed directly for the docking bay and found that one of the e-suits was already occupied. "Hey!" a small, dark-haired girl said, her eyes barely above the neck of the helmet. "Don't you have any of these in a shorter size?" * * * * Saunders looked across the conference table and smiled at Susan. Her face was warm and happy. She winked at him, ignoring the man who was droning on about something at the foot of the table. After an eternity, the speaker finished. Then, the men and women who were also in the room got up and left, leaving Saunders and Susan alone. She moved to the chair next to him and said, "Looks like your new life form is going to make you millions, Ben." He smiled sheepishly. "I suppose, but I really don't understand the marketing behind it." She laughed. "You never did have a good mind for business." He grinned, then put his hand on hers. "I was too busy minding you." She sighed. "I...I should have explained before I left." His heart pounded faster. "Explain what?" "I thought I didn't love you," she said, then looked away. He=20 shrugged impatiently. "=91And...'?" She looked into his eyes. "I still didn't think I loved you when I came to Tranquility Tower. But when I saw you, about to be blown out into space..." She put her hand on the side of his face. "I knew that I wanted nothing more than to have you back." She swallowed hard. "I have no right to ask..." He cradled her hand, then kissed it. "I've never wanted anyone but you, Susie. I'd give up the millions to get you back." She grinned.=20 "You'll just have to share them." He leaned over to kiss her. She put her hand on his chest to stop him. He looked at her, confused. "Ben..." "Yes?" "Don't call me =91Susie.'" Then, there in the Taggert boardroom, the new President of Bestline Space Technologies' Environmental Waste Disposal Company kissed the new Chairman of the Board. ------------------------------------------- "Yesterday they said today was tomorrow, but today=20 they know better." --Poul Anderson, _The Visitor_ Michelle winebird@inreach.com